"You can't keep calling him Inviso-Bill!" Paulina said. It was unbecoming for a lady to raise her voice, but she could not let this pass.

"It sounds better than ghost boy," Dash said. "He needs a hero name."

"Yeah Paulina, the dude fought a dragon," Kwan said. "A dragon!"

School had just ended and they were loitering at Kwan's locker. He leaned against it with his arms crossed, a dumb grin on his face as if that fact settled it. And Dash leaned against Kwan with an elbow on his shoulder.

"Then give him a good one," she said. "Gawd, he's too handsome for a lame ass name like Bill."

She wanted his real name. And she wanted to know how long ago he had died, how it had happened, and if he'd had a girlfriend. If so, was that girl still alive? Was she young still or an old lady?

"What about Ecto-Man?" Kwan said. "Like cause he's made of ectoplasm?"

"Ew, no something good I said." The next time she saw him, Paulina would ask the ghost boy herself. Trying to think up a name was useless.

"Hey, I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Dash said. "Good try, Kwan. Oh! What about Ghost Buster?"

"Nah, cause the Ghostbusters are a team," Kwan said. "That's like calling John Lennon 'A Beatle' or something. It doesn't work."

"Good point," Dash said. He groaned and draped himself over Kwan. "Naming things is hard, man."

Paulina rolled her eyes. They could have gone on swapping name ideas for hours, but thankfully the boys spotted Fenton and Foley walking by and couldn't resist yelling after them. "Hey Princess Peach! Where's your crown?" Dash said. He straightened up and cracked his knuckles.

"Foley you better get yourself a plunger," Kwan said. What a loyal sidekick, trying to follow the theme. "Uh, cause Bowser could come for him at any minute!"

The guys laughed and high fived each other. Foley flipped them off without looking and the nerds kept walking.

"Hey Fentina!" Dash really wanted Fenton to look at him. She could see a vein pulsing in his neck as the blood rushed to his face. Wow, it was pathetic. Fenton walked out of the building with no reaction. Dash punched a locker. "The fuck, it's like he's not even scared of me."

"I wonder why," Paulina muttered. It's not like Dash could actually beat anyone up. Not without risking his spot on the football team. Kwan tried to put a comforting arm over his shoulder, but Dash shrugged it off and stomped after Fenton.

Unfortunately, Paulina could empathize with his frustration. The little nerd had been ignoring her too. Not that she ever cared about him, but their date had ended oddly. Actually, it hadn't ended at all. It was interrupted by the ghost attack.

It was a given that there be some kind of follow up, wasn't it? But Fenton never texted or acknowledged her at all. And she didn't care but it was kind of insulting. Never in her life had she been ghosted like this. By someone under her league at that! She hoped Dash would punch him or something, at least once.

But she had more important concerns. Where was Manson? The goth nerd didn't go home with the other two? Paulina had never paid much attention to them, so she didn't know if this sort of thing was normal.

Kwan had been talking about something and Paulina had been pretending to listen, but she dropped her pretense when Manson finally walked by.

"I'll catch you later," she said, trailing after the girl at a measured, but fast, pace.

"But I finally got the CD!" Kwan called after her. Some new artist that had been blowing up. It didn't really matter, pop singers were a dime a dozen. Like fashion trends, they were gone in a blink. Normally Paulina attentively kept tabs on it all, but today she could care less.

"I'll listen to it later, Kwan," Paulina called back. She was closer to Manson now and the girl flinched at her volume, looking over her shoulder to glare at her.

It was as good an opening as any.

"Hey giiiirl," Paulina said. Whoops, wrong crowd. The look on Manson's face was pure disgust. Just cause Manson was a girl didn't mean she communicated like one.

Paulina tried to change tracks. She cleared her throat. "Sup?"

"What do you want?" Manson said. She stopped walking and turned around.

"Fashion tips," Paulina said. It was hard to get those words out with a straight face, but she managed it.

"What?" Manson said. "Are you kidding me?"

"I wish I was," Paulina sighed. "C'mon just tell me how to dress up like a goth princess. Like you did for the dance."

Manson tutted. "Is this about Pha- the, uh, ghost boy?" She adjusted the strap on her backpack, then looked at her wrist. But there wasn't a watch there. "Look, I don't have time for-"

Paulina grabbed hold of her spider backpack by one of its plushy legs as Sam tried to walk away. "Oh no you don't! I noticed that slip up, Manson. You know his name?! Tell me!"

Manson growled. "Bite me." She tugged her backpack out of Paulina's grip.

"Fine just tell me where you got the dress," Paulina said. She followed closely as Manson walked out of the building. "What was that weird hairstyle? Tell me what it's called, tell me how you did your make up."

"You think dressing like me will get his attention?" Manson said. "That's ridiculous."

"I'm willing to try anything at this point," Paulina muttered.

Manson huffed. "Just google gothic lolita."

After delivering that little tidbit Manson flipped her off and picked up her pace.

Well, that was more than enough. Paulina let her go.

oOo

It was like wearing a Halloween costume. Paulina pictured herself as Frankenstein's bride. Or Morticia from The Adam's Family. Except she wasn't about to let herself look all pasty. It wouldn't work with her tan, after all. She'd need to coat her entire body in white powder to pull it off and who the hell has time for that?

But it didn't matter, she had The Look and that was good enough wasn't it?

She hoped so.

Finding the ghost boy turned out to be the easy part. She just had to keep an eye on the hashtag amityparkghostboy and she was notified every time someone spotted him. Though the ghost had a habit of vanishing as soon as he noticed anyone looking at him, it was often possible for people to sneak photos before he left.

Paulina ran to several different locations he'd been spotted at, trying to get there as soon as a post went up. It took her a few days because she couldn't run after him while she was at school, but she finally caught him at the public library of all places.

He was floating in the young adult section, reading a Harry Potter book. Dammit, was he a nerd? Paulina had to laugh at herself as she watched him. Well, she was a nerd now too wasn't she? She'd painted her nails black. Did social standing even matter anymore? Not when you're dead, she figured. And she wouldn't mind dying today if she knew she could stick around, young and beautiful forever.

"Harry Potter was trending for a bit," Paulina said conversationally. The ghost boy gasped and looked over his shoulder. He seemed to flicker. As if someone were rapidly turning the lights on and off, but only for him. "I think I saw the third and fourth movie because they were so popular. But then they fell out of style. And I never properly watched the series."

He stared at her with wide eyes, taking in her outfit. "Do you like it?" she said. She held up the hem of her dress, showing off the white tights and petticoat underneath. "It's brand new."

"P-paulina?" he croaked.

She squealed, "You know me?" It wasn't cool to squeal anymore, or to clap your hands and jump like an excited bunny, but Paulina couldn't help herself. This was going better than she had imagined.

His eyes widened and he vanished.

"No, come back!" she said, stomping a foot. It had been going so well. "Ghost boy!"

"Shhh," he whispered. She could feel the words against her ear and she shivered. "This is a library."

"Come back," she whispered. "I'll be a good girl…"

Was he hesitating or was he gone? She reached out into the air, hoping to bump against him, but there was nothing. Though there seemed to be a chill in the air. Him? Or the air vent over their heads?

"D-don't ask me any questions," the ghost boy murmured. He reappeared directly in front of her, a lot closer than she'd expected. She beamed and leaned towards him, almost close enough to give him a kiss.

"Can I ask just one thing?" she said. She fluttered her eyelashes. "Please?"

He sighed. "Alright." He was still holding the Harry Potter book, she noticed. He cradled it like a baby. No, he clutched it to his chest. Squeezing it like a favored plushie.

"Did you read those when you were alive?" Paulina said.

He nearly dropped the book. Did he forget he was holding it? He chuckled at himself, picking it back up and returning it to its shelf. He scratched the back of his head. "Um, no actually. I saw all the movies as they came out and then forgot about the series. Wh-when I was alive I thought reading was boring."

Interesting.

"What changed your mind?" she said. Paulina made a show of settling in on the floor, arranging her dress around her in a cute little pool of black. The ghost boy wearily mirrored her, sitting down and glancing around. But this part of the library was deserted for now.

"I was just bored," the ghost boy said. "You get a lot of free time when you're dead, you know? More than you could ever want or know what to do with. But it turns out I really like reading. I wish I had known how much more intense it is. Th-than watching a movie, I mean."

"I like intense." She winked.

Most guys would blush at a line like that. He didn't. But he looked down. Success?

"What do you want?" he said. He was staring at her arms, at her elbow length fingerless gloves, at her black nails. She was very good at tracking the specifics of a boy's gaze.

"What's your name?" Paulina said. She ran her fingers through her hair and he followed the movement.

He snorted, "You already used up your one question remember?"

She pouted. He grinned in response, finally meeting her gaze with confidence.

"You can call me Phantom," he said. He tugged at his earlobe and for the first time she noticed the weird green earrings he was wearing. Had he always had those?

"And you can call me," Paulina said. The dress didn't have pockets, of course, and she hadn't had time to buy a purse to match it, but now she was glad for that. He still had an eye on her hands when she pulled the slip up paper out from under the gloves. "Anytime…"

He took the paper, eyes widening. "Is this your phone number?!"

"No, it's my social security," she joked. "Yes, it's my phone number!"

He grinned. "So you do have a sense of humor."

"Who said I didn't?" she crossed her arms and glared at him exaggeratedly. That got him laughing. But when the laughter died out he frowned.

"I'm sorry," Phantom said. "I can't call you."

Careful to control her tone, so that it sounded nonchalantly curious instead of whiny, she said, "Why not?"

"I don't have a phone," he said. He shrugged and held his hands out, palms up, in a 'What can ya do?' sort of way.

"Oh." That was definitely an obstacle. "And I don't suppose you have a pen either, huh?"

"Um, no, sorry." He looked confused as she brusquely stood up, dusting off her dress and heading for the front desk. "Sh-should I stay here?"

"Yeah," she said. "I'll be right back."

When she returned Phantom was pacing in the isle. He had a hand on one of his ears. Tapping the earring, it looked like. He murmured something to himself and flickered out of view when he spotted her. Was that something he did out of shyness?

Adorable. He reappeared for her and smiled sheepishly.

She gave him a new piece of paper. A post it note this time, with her address on it.

"I have school and cheerleading practice," Paulina said. "But I'm home in the evenings, of course." She would stay home all weekend if he asked her too. But best not to lead with that. "On weekdays, I mean. On weekends it's up in the air, of course."

Stop saying of course, she thought. Never in her life had she felt this self conscious.

Phantom was having a similar problem. "Y-you want me to… to…"

"To come over," Paulina said. She nibbled at her bottom lip, drawing his eyes there. Today her lipstick was an intense blood red and she wondered if he liked it. Or should she have sucked it up and gone with the black? It had felt too garish when she'd tried it on at home. Too tacky. The ghost boy's mouth formed this cute little O as he processed her words and she decided red had been a good call.

Then he disappeared again.

"Phantom?"

"I'm still here," he said. "Sorry. I have to go, but um. I'll… I'll s-see you. Um, later."

"That a promise?" She shivered and wondered if he'd gotten closer. Paulina really wanted to touch him, but didn't want to be seen blindly scrambling after him again.

"Yes," he murmured. Then he was gone. She was certain of it this time. Because it was suddenly too warm in the library for the layers she had on. Removing the gloves, she headed for the elevator. Maybe she should go to Victoria's Secret on the way home, she thought. And look for a black nightgown.